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A review by sargasso_c
The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Wilde had a great concept but failed to execute it optimally. Even for the time period, the prose dances around the "horrors" that Dorian supposedly commits entirely too much and never once hints at what evils he has been adopting. We are expected to understand the depths of Dorian's depravity by the reaction society has to him, but those reactions are too tame for the wildly unethical actions we are to believe Dorian commits regularly. In no time period - no matter how conservative or repressed, is someone described by their peers as fundamentally corrupted and receives, as intended or consequential punishment, fewer dinner invitations and slightly less accompanied carriage rides.
Wilde so desperately wants his readers to believe Dorian's soul was beyond salvaging, but we never see the "golden boy" do anything worse than be kind of mean to his girlfriend until the very last pages of the book. Yes, he corrupted innocents and spoke triviously or callously about serious situations, but so did Lord Henry and the man is not portrayed as a villain so much as a slightly vulgar and amusing uncle. Dorian spent eleven years walking willingly to corruption, and in all that time, he never committed a crime? Fathered and abandoned a child? Physically injured someone? Dined and dashed??? Even when Dorian comits murder, it is with his victim's back to him and though there are descriptions of blood, the whole scene feels quite tame.<\spoiler> All in all, this was just a disappointing read that left me wondering if The Picture of Dorian Gray is a "classic" because most people have only heard the premise without reading the book and were able to imagine that this novel contained a much better story.
Wilde so desperately wants his readers to believe Dorian's soul was beyond salvaging, but we never see the "golden boy" do anything worse than be kind of mean to his girlfriend until the very last pages of the book. Yes, he corrupted innocents and spoke triviously or callously about serious situations, but so did Lord Henry and the man is not portrayed as a villain so much as a slightly vulgar and amusing uncle. Dorian spent eleven years walking willingly to corruption, and in all that time, he never committed a crime? Fathered and abandoned a child? Physically injured someone? Dined and dashed??? Even when Dorian comits murder, it is with his victim's back to him and though there are descriptions of blood, the whole scene feels quite tame.<\spoiler> All in all, this was just a disappointing read that left me wondering if The Picture of Dorian Gray is a "classic" because most people have only heard the premise without reading the book and were able to imagine that this novel contained a much better story.